A student enters the library at Jinks Middle School in Panama City on Monday. April is School Library Month.

Andrew Wardlow / The News Herald

By JESSICA McCARTHY / The News Herald

Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 at 09:44 PM.

PANAMA CITY — School libraries may no longer simply be rooms with books, but they are still sources of learning and entertainment for students.

David Fowler, media specialist for Jinks Middle School, said libraries have been in transition during the past decade. The traditional library is a thing of the past, he said, and the plethora of digital information is “a positive thing.”

“An individual reminded me years ago it’s the information that’s important, not the platform on which it exists,” Fowler said.

This information expansion is coming into focus as the Florida Department of Education observes School Library Month in April, with research indicating “school library programs make a measurable difference in student academic achievement.”

Fowler said his school has been transitioning from a traditionally modeled school library to more online components for curriculum and resources. About 99 percent of the multimedia activities at Jinks stream from the Internet.

“While we don’t feel like we’re in the entertainment business, we really are,” Fowler said. “You’ve got something you need to teach the kids, more information you can bombard them with, to keep them active and interested. … While the old way was effective with a lot of kids, it’s really not as effective as the new way like labs.”

PANAMA CITY — School libraries may no longer simply be rooms with books, but they are still sources of learning and entertainment for students.

David Fowler, media specialist for Jinks Middle School, said libraries have been in transition during the past decade. The traditional library is a thing of the past, he said, and the plethora of digital information is “a positive thing.”

“An individual reminded me years ago it’s the information that’s important, not the platform on which it exists,” Fowler said.

This information expansion is coming into focus as the Florida Department of Education observes School Library Month in April, with research indicating “school library programs make a measurable difference in student academic achievement.”

Fowler said his school has been transitioning from a traditionally modeled school library to more online components for curriculum and resources. About 99 percent of the multimedia activities at Jinks stream from the Internet.

“While we don’t feel like we’re in the entertainment business, we really are,” Fowler said. “You’ve got something you need to teach the kids, more information you can bombard them with, to keep them active and interested. … While the old way was effective with a lot of kids, it’s really not as effective as the new way like labs.”

Having those resources and access to so much information can reshape a student’s school career; Fowler’s experience with a student struggling with math proved it. He said the student started one-on-one work using the Kahn Academy, on online-based resource for students and teachers.

He said the student improved her math skills on the FCAT this semester by two levels over last year. Fowler said this type of situation is beyond the normal scope of the library duties, but his primary mission is to educate.

“Particularly in the digital realm, if there is anything that I can do to help improve on the education of the kids, that’s what I want to do,” Fowler said.

He said before the new technology, students had to come to him, but now he can help everywhere.

Sixth-grader Curtis Brown, 12, said he reads lots of books and that same familiarity and comfort level makes a difference to him.

Camden Taylor, 14-year-old eighth grader, said it’s more than knowing people in the library that sets it apart for him; he likes that his school is decorated with pictures from books or holiday themes because it keeps it from being plain. He also said books need to teach him something and keep him interested.

“A kid can be walking down the school hall and decide they want to go get a book,” Taylor said. “There are some children in this school … that make fun of kids who can’t read when they can’t really read themselves. This is a good place to come, grab a book and just read.”

Alex Sherman, a 14-year-old eighth grader, said she likes her school library because combining schoolwork and the school library leads her down new paths.

“Most of the books I read I find through our library,” Sherman said. “I had to pick out a book for a book report in sixth grade and the book I picked led me into this series of books” by Rick Riordan.